CAMH receives record $100 million from anonymous donor

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) announced on January 11 that it received a $100 million donation from an anonymous donor. According to a statement posted on its website, this is the largest donation ever given to a mental health centre in Canada.

“We need to invest in the fundamental research and the clinical innovation that will improve the health of individuals and populations, locally, nationally and globally,” wrote Dr. Catherine Zahn, President and CEO of CAMH, in the statement on the CAMH website. “This gift will make that a reality.”

CAMH is a mental health teaching hospital that provides health services and does research, with three main sites in Toronto.

The donation will be used to endow the Discovery Fund, which will recruit top-tier scientists and medical research professionals to CAMH. The fund will also provide capital for any future research projects on mental health.

The Discovery Fund, according to CAMH’s website, will prioritize three different areas: developing the next generation of scientists focusing on mental health, furthering the centre’s understanding of mental illness and diseases, and using data to put research findings into practice.

“I believe CAMH is well-positioned to make a transformational impact in the field of mental health research,” read a statement from the donor. “I have seen the devastating impact of mental illness on individuals and their families; I want to provide support to the next generation of researchers and scientists to pursue the research that will directly transform care.”

The anonymous donor also highlighted that the gift will be used to support “high-risk, high-reward research.”

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Faculty of Engineering receives $20 million donation

U of T’s Faculty of Engineering has received a substantial donation from an alumnus.

The estate of Erwin Edward Hart, who graduated with a degree in civil engineering in 1940 and was the Chief Welding Engineer for the manufacturing company Massey Ferguson Ltd, left a bequest of $20 million to U of T’s Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering.

The donation will fund the Percy Edward Hart and Erwin Edward Hart Professorships. Percy was Erwin’s father. Seven faculty members in the first ten years of their career will be nominated from among their fellow faculty members to receive financial support from Hart’s fund. The chosen professors will be given $75,000 annually for three years to conduct research.

Among other departments, this extends to the Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry, the Department of Civil Engineering, and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Furthermore, the donation contributes to the engineering portion of the Boundless campaign for the University of Toronto. Currently, $180 million has been raised for the engineers, with an engineering-specific target of $200 million.